


take a breath (and dive in deep)

by Talinor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Protective Big Brother Shiro, Secret Relationship, broganes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 11:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9818618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talinor/pseuds/Talinor
Summary: The thing he did note, however, was thehugebathtub that took up half of the room. It could hold at least 10 full grown adults, but right now the dark gray waters only held mounds of bubbles and one wet 19 year old sitting up and looking right at him."Dude," Lance said. "Do you mind?"





	

**Author's Note:**

> the title only makes sense at the end  
> i don't really know why I wrote this tbh  
> enjoy!

They'd been at the Syslopian Castle for 3 days now. The Queen had accepted Voltron's offer for an alliance readily, anxious about the Galra creeping on her kingdom's borders. She even offered to let them stay for a week as honored guests.

The Syslopians had certainly spared no expense building it. While it was a bit smaller than the Altean Castle, it felt a lot more... comfortable. Pearlescent curtains hung over every star-shaped windows. The walls looked like marble, edged with gilded linings. Countless paintings of the tall regal-looking past rulers hung on certain walls. Each had different regalia- the earlier ones in more primitive-looking wear, some in armor. But they all had roughly the same muted blue skin tone, similar markings all along their skin, and the same white eyes.

While the Altean Castle was built as a mobile military center, the Syslopian one was practically a resort. Lavish decorations, huge bedrooms personalized for each Paladin, and each one had a bathroom almost as big.

It was a nice place to relax. Servants constantly walked the halls, ready and happy to help their guests with whatever they needed. With all the recent chaos, the Paladins needed a place like this to unwind. Because of that, they were free to do what they wanted for most of the day. The only restrictions were meal times and curfews.

Allura and Coran stayed on their own Castle, coming up with plans for what their next move against the Galra should be. The only time any of the others saw them was at the dining table. Shiro visited them a few times.

Pidge mainly stayed in their room, fiddling with little bits and pieces of tech they could get their hands on. When they did leave their room, they talked with some of the servants. Seeing what Syslopian life was like for 'the little guys', as they described it when they talked about it during dinner.

Hunk didn't stay in the Castle much. He went out to the city, seeing the sights and meeting the locals. They gushed about him constantly, praising how kind and humble he was. Hunk would just smile and flush a bit whenever it was mentioned.

Lance and Keith... didn't really talk about what they did. Once Shiro saw Lance out and about along the town, but after breakfast Keith seemed to disappear. Which wasn't really unusual for him, but Lance did it too. _That_ was the strange part.

Not to mention the strange way they'd been acting around each other lately. They'd been getting along much better, but recently that all changed. They rarely talked to each other anymore, barely looked in the other's direction. It worried Shiro to no end. 

And he was getting to the bottom of it _right now._

He walked briskly down the hall toward one of the servants. A shorter one, about an inch smaller than him. Their skin was a pale green color, deep blue tribal-esque markings lining their arms exposed by a uniform tunic of the same color. Shimmering forest green eyes looked to him as they heard his approaching footsteps. They smiled. "Ah, Black Paladin Shiro," they said in a melodious two-toned voice. "Servant Enya at your service. Is there anything this one can assist you with?"

Shiro nodded. "Yeah, actually," he said. "Do you know where Keith or Lance are right now?"

Enya considered the question for a moment, then nodded. "This one does not know where Red Paladin Keith is at the moment, but this one believes Blue Paladin Lance is bathing with bubbles in his quarters' restroom. Down this hallway and the first left, if you wish to speak to him."

Shiro gave them an appreciative smile. "Thank you."

"You are quite welcome, Paladin," they said cheerfully. "If you need anything else, let one of us know."

"I know." Shiro nodded and continued on his way, keeping what Enya said in mind.

Part of him felt a bit bad for planning to barge in on Lance during a time like this, but this was the first time he actually knew where he was. They needed to talk, and it wasn't the kind of conversation to have at the dinner table with the others around. It probably also wasn't a conversation to have while Lance was having a bubble bath, but now wasn't a time to be picky.

The walk didn't take too long, and the door slid open for him with a soft _whoosh_ to showcase Lance's room.

Obviously, most of it was various shades of blue. The soft-looking carpet with lighter blue swirling patterns, the gigantic bed and seashell-shaped pillows, the curtains to a screen door showing a view of Syslopi's beach with inky black waters and moonlight colored sand. Lance's Paladin armor hung on display in the corner.

A loud splashing sound from the open bathroom made him remember why he was there in the first place. As he stepped closer, he saw more of Lance's bathroom.

The mirror was gigantic, edged with a light silvery metal that blended nicely with the pastel blue walls. Various cream bottles lay on the sink's iridescent blue counter. The toilet was the same one his own bathroom had, so it wasn't really something to note.

The thing he did note, however, was the _huge_ bathtub that took up half of the room. It could hold at least 10 full grown adults, but right now the dark gray waters only held mounds of bubbles and one wet 19 year old sitting up and looking right at him.

"Dude," Lance said. "Do you mind?"

The waters were too dark to see anything, but Shiro still looked away. The slight heat of involuntary embarrassment quickly made itself known. "I need to talk to you."

"Right now?" Now he sounded a bit worried. "Did... did something happen?"

Shiro shook his head. "No, don't worry," he said, daring to look at Lance. He had his arms crossed, covering most of himself up. "I just need to you about something."

"What is it?" His shoulders were less tense now that he knew nothing was wrong, but he still looked uncomfortable. Which was pretty understandable.

"Uh..." How should Shiro start this? He let out a sigh, moving to sit on the covered toilet. "I just... I want you to know, first off, that you're like a brother to me." He noted the small smile Lance gave him at that. "But I have an _actual_ brother, and I know you two have been getting... close. For his sake, I want you to know," Shiro leaned forward a bit, looking to Lance with dead seriousness. "If you _intentionally_ play with his feelings, or purposely break his heart, you're going to have _hell to pay."_ He noticed how uneasy Lance looked at that. Shiro let the cold facade drop, shoulders loosening. "...I know you probably won't do anything like that, but it's happened before."

It took months for Keith to recover from the first time. He's not sure how long it would take him to get over Lance if it happened again. Or if Keith would recover at all.

"Understand?" Shiro asked.

Lance nodded quickly. "Gotcha loud and clear."

Shiro gave him a smile and stood up. "Good," he said, turning to leave. "See you at dinner."

Lance watched him leave and waited until he heard his bedroom door close and lock with a telltale click before he reached his hand into the water. It didn't take long to find what he was looking for, tapping it twice.

Keith's head popped out of the water with a deep gasp. He took a few gulps of air, his long wet bangs almost covering his widened eyes until a hand slicked them back. _"Oh my god,"_ he said, still breathing heavily. "I thought he'd _never_ leave!"

**Author's Note:**

> comments are always appreciated!  
> my tumblr: squishy--squish


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